Railway rail bond and method of application



Sept. 7, 1937, G. GORT RAILWAY RAIL BOND AND METHOD OF APPLICATION Filed April 21, 1936 INVENTOR r2 NE Y ATTOR Patented Sept. 7, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT Fries RAILWAY RAIL BOND AND METHOD OF APPLICATION Godfrey Gort, ChicagmIlL, assignor to Western Railroad Supply Company, Chicago, Ill.

Application April 21, 1936, Serial No. 75,521

6 Claims.

which type of installation has several objections' In my improved bond and method of application, the bond is applied to the head or ball portion of the rail, quite near the adjacent ends of the rail, so that if the rail end be broken, it will usually affect the bond and thereby the signal circuit, whereby the defective rail may be repaired or replaced. A bond applied to the web of the rail beyond the splice plate will not give this protective feature.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a rail bond which may be applied to the rail ends in a simple and relatively inexpensive manner-,1

yet provide eflicient installation.

Another object of my invention is to provide a rail bond which will be extremely flexible, yet have high current conductivity.

Another object of my invention is to provide a bond which can be removed without great trouole, yet at the same time can be used over again.

These and other objects will be clear to one skilled in this art, on a reading of the specification, taken in connection with the annexed drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view looking down on the top of two rail ends, showing one end of thebond. connected to one rail end, while the other is indicated in position ready for installation.

Figure 2 is a side view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view showing different steps in the manufacture of the terminal comprising part of the rail bond.

Figure 4 is a side view of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the terminal in one stage of manufacture.

Figure 6 is a side view of the terminal shown in Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a sectional view through the completed terminal.

Figure 8 shows one method of applying the rail bond to a rail.

In the various views, wherein like numbers refer to corresponding parts, I and 2 illustrate the head or ball portion of two rails, the web and flanges not being shown. The end of each rail is provided with a hole 3 relatively near the ends of the rails, the hole being ot a suitable diameter and depth. For the type of bond illustrated, the depth of the hole 3 may be approximately V while the diameter is approximately The bond itself is composed of a plurality of soft metal strips 4, preferably of good conducting material such as copper. These strips are arranged somewhat as shown in Figure 2, to allow for expansion and contraction of the rails and for installation purposes; that is to say, the

holes 3 do not require to be drilled in the rail heads at any precise distance from the rail ends. To each end of the bundle of metal-strips 4, there are attached terminals 5 which may be made somewhat as shown in Figures 3 and 4, wherein, in the first operation, indicated at 6, the lug portion I is formed down and from the metal cut out of the space 8. In the next succeeding step,

the lug I is drawn out to a larger diameter, while the flange 9 is narrowed up from the corresponding flange in the first operation.

In the next succeeding operation to the left,

I looking at Figure 3, the metal of the terminal is brought to substantially its final diameter, as is the flange 9, the space 8 being somewhat greater than in either the two preceding steps.

In the next operation, the terminal is cut out from the strip, at which time, if desired, holes or perforations ill may be made in the fiat portion I I ofv the terminal, after which the portion i iis formed up so as to provide two sides i2, forming a channel-shaped seat for the ends of the flexible conductors 4. After the end of the conductor strip is placed in position in the channel portion of the terminal 5, rivets iii are passed through the holes ill and corresponding holes made in the bundle of strips 4, and forced into locking position.

rails l and 2. The diameter of the lug 1 is slight- 1y less than the diameter of the hole 3, whereby the lug I may be readily pushed into the hole 3, after which a tool, such as a punch i5, having a flat end I6, is passed into the interior ll of the cup, into engagement with the conical portion M. Hammer blows are then applied to the punch H5 or equivalent tool, forcing the portion I4 into reverse position, and into engagement with the bottom of the side walls It of the holes 3, thereby securely anchoring the lugs I into the holes 3.

When it is desired to remove the rail bond from the rail, a suitable tool may be passed behind the fian'ge 9, within the space l9, and the lugs 'I can then be pried or forced out of the holes 3.

To use the bond over again, all that is required is to force the bottom of the cup-shaped lug I into the position shown in Figure 7 by a suitable tool, when the bond may be re-applied as above described.

From the above description, it will be seen that the lug used in making the rail bond is made from one piece of good current-conducting material, such as copper, and that a standard flat-end punch or hammer is all that is required for installing the bond after the holes have been made in the rails. The terminals, and at least the outside strips of the conductor 4, may be plated with any suitable material such as cadmium.

Should one of the strips comprising the conductor 4 become broken, the others are sufficient to carry the current, and such breakage can be detected by inspection before the circuit is opened; that is to say, it is quite improbable that all of the laminations comprising the conductor will break at the same time. The conductors of a stranded cable may become broken without being readily detected, whereas a conductor in strip form may be quite easily observed if it becomes broken.

In Figure 8, I have shown a very satisfactory form of applying the bond to a rail. In this figure, the punch has a reduced end IS, the same as shown in Figure 1, to flt the hole H in the lug I, and an enlarged portion having a flat surface X adapted to engage the flange 9 of the lug I when the punch is driven into the lug as and for the purposes described. Initially, the distance A between the surface X and the flange 9 is less than the distance B which is the approximate distance the punch travels in flattening out the conical portion ll of the lug I.

In operation, when the surface X of the punch strikes the flange 9, the metal in the side wall Y of the lug I is driven into the space between the punch and the side wall of the hole in the rail, thereby making a very tight connecting fit on the sides of the hole, as well as flattening the conical surface ll as heretofore described.

While I have indicated certain steps in the manufacture of the bond per se, these steps may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims.

terior of the cup, but forced into reversed position within the cavity to anchor the terminal therein.

2. The method of bonding railway rails which consists in drilling a cavity of the proper diameter and of shallow depth into the ball portion of each end of two adjacent rail ends, then inserting into each cavity an initially inwardly reversibly bottomed, cup-shaped lug of a terminal, the said terminals being connected ,together by a flexible electrical conductor and then through the medium of a flat-end punch, forcing the said initially inwardly reversible bottom of each lug cup into generally reverse position against the lower side wall of its cavity.

3. The method of attaching a lead to a railway rail which consists in drilling a cavity of the proper diameter and depth into a suitable portion of the rail, then inserting into the cavity an initially inwardly reversibly bottomed, cupshaped lug 'of a rail bond terminal, then taking a flat end tool and forcing said initially inwardly reversible bottom of the cup outwardly into intimate contact with the lower parts of said rail cavity.

4. The method of bonding railway rails which consists in drilling a cavity of the proper diameter and depth into a suitable portion of each end of two adjacent rail ends, then inserting into each cavity a flanged, initially, inwardly, reversibly bottomed, cup-shaped lug of a terminal, the said terminals'being connected together by a flexible electrical conductor, then anchoring the lugs into their respective cavities by taking a tool having parts of at least two diameters, one part to lit the interior of a lug, while the other part flts over the flange of the lug, and forcing some of the metal of each lug flange into its rail cavity between the side wall thereof and the punch, as well as reversing and expanding the bottom of the lug against the lower side walls of its cavity.

5. The method of bonding railway rails which consists in drilling a cavity of the proper diameter and depth into the ball portion of each end of two adjacent rail ends, then inserting into each cavity an initially inwardly reversibly bottomed, cup-shaped lug of a rail bond terminal, the said terminals being connected together by a flexible electrical conductor, and then, through the medium of a suitable tool, forcing some of the exterior portion of each lug being operated on into its rail cavity between the side wall thereof and the tool, as well as reversing and expanding the bottom of said lug into intimate contact with the lower parts of its rail cavity.

6. In combination with the ball of a railway rail end having a relatively shallow cylindrically shaped cavity therein, a metallic terminal connected to a flexible electrical conductor of good current-conducting material, said terminal having a projecting lug, the lug being cup-shaped to fit into the rail cavity with the bottom initially formed conically inwardly within the interior of the cup but capable of being forced into reversed position wholly within the cavity to grip the rail metal.

GODFREY GORT. 

